Membury, Devon
| Membury | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 Membury Church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST279030 |
| Location: | 50°49’19"N, 3°1’23"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 501 |
| Postcode: | EX13 |
| Dialling code: | 01404 |
| Local Government | |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
East Devon |
Membury is a village three miles north west of Axminster in the very east of Devon. The population at the 2011 Census was recorfed as 501.
The village has a 13th-century church, dedicated to St John the Baptist, with a tall slim tower.[1] In the aisle there is a monument to Sir Shilston Calmady, who was killed in action during siege of Ford House, in nearby Stockland in February 1646, during the Civil War, and was buried in the chancel.
The village is within the Blackdown Hills, an 'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty' and lies just to the north east of Beckford Bridge over the River Yarty, which is the oldest packhorse bridge in eastern Devon. Near to the village there is former Quaker meeting house that is now a hotel.[1]
History and miscellany
The parish of Membury contains several historic estates including:
- Yarty, long the seat of the Fry family.
- Waterhouse (anciently Waters or AtWaters,[2] or West Waters[3]), anciently the seat of the De la Water family, the family taking their surname from their seat, which was named (according to William Pole) from its closeness to the River Yarty and "took the name of the water adjoyining & floatinge under it".[4]
During the Civil War, eastern Devon was the scene of fierce action, as Parliament's forces sought to capture Royalist Exeter. The parish church has a memorial to Sir Shilston Calmady of Membury who fell in February 1646 at Stockland.
The founding editor of the medical journal, The Lancet, Thomas Wakley, was born at Membury in 1795.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Membury, Devon) |
